The Sunburn fest

Here's the goss from the hip music festival in the land of fun and feni

Crowds pour in, Bollywood biggies keep outLooks like the Bollywood folk at the ongoing Sunburn music festival were more than happy to steer clear of the spotlight and instead blend into the crowd or go shopping at the local flea markets.

Sameera Reddy with Harindra Singh

So while one saw Prateik incessantly taking snapshots of massive crowds and the crowdpullers, Rana Dagubati chose to stick to a corner with his bottle of beer. Says Rana, "It's actually quite a relief to get away from the usual crowds.

People here are music buffs and that's all they care about. It's a vibe you will never really experience anywhere else."

And so he head-bobbed with 40,000 other fans, since the music more than made up for rumoured girlfriend Bipasha Basu's absence.

Prateik on the other hand resembled a groupie going from stage to stage with a bunch of friends. He adds, "I've grown up on this music.

It's like second home for me." And he was among a handful of others who had good academic knowledge of the genre.

For others like Sameera Reddy, who was sans make-up, music as the backdrop was more than enough. "Well if you are smart and single, and you love to dance, this is the place to be. I'm having the time of my life," she says.

Those who stayed awayMany of the Bollwood biggies regulars like Priyanka Chopra and Arjun Rampal, who were expected to attend, chose to keep out. Says a source, "This used to be a place where people could just come and be.

But the crowds have gotten so huge over the past two years that it's kind of losing the charm. Probably why this time there has been less celebrity action." The moodInterestingly, apart from music, there was a lot more to indulge in. Celebs like Shahzan Padamsee, Nauheed Cyrusi, Jaccky Bhagnani and Monica Dogra were spotted pampering the shopaholics in them at the flea market.

Says Monica who also performed at the festival, "The scale here is as international as it can get and for an artiste there is nothing more satisfying than playing to such large numbers."